Spectators have gathered on Main Street to view the Oil Celebration Days Parade. An automobile is pulling a float past spectators. "This float, built by the Tioga Ladies Petroleum Club, won first place in the 1955 Tioga Oil Celebration Days Parade."

"Although records are scanty and nearly everyone who was living here in the early days of settlement is gone, a few tidbits of information remain to prove that as early as 1909, there was drilling for oil and gas in North Dakota. One such item...

Spectators have gathered on Main Street to view the Oil Celebration Days Parade. An automobile is pulling a float past spectators. "This float, built by the Tioga Ladies Petroleum Club, won first place in the 1955 Tioga Oil Celebration Days Parade."

Spectators have gathered on Main Street to view the Oil Celebration Days Parade. An automobile is pulling a float past spectators. "This float, built by the Tioga Ladies Petroleum Club, won first place in the 1955 Tioga Oil Celebration Days Parade."

"Operators in the ten new Williston telephone building are pictured on Christmas Day, 1953 as they handled both local and long distance calls. Right to left, seated at the switchboard are Joyce Alexander, Laura Jean Vanatta, Shirley Haug, Violet...

"Critchell Parsons, president of the Tioga Petroleum Corporation, right, chats with Clarence Iverson, owner of the land on which the original Williston Basin discovery well was drilled. The meeting took place one Saturday morning in 1952 at the...

Tower-man at work in June 1955, on the Lofflund Drilling Company’s derrick on Amerada’s Henry Rohde No. 3 in Mountrail County, N.D. The "Highest job in the oil field is the work of the derrick man whose job is to stack the drill pipe as it comes...

"The first meeting of the Williston Desk & Derrick Club is photographed in January, 1954." "If the men who ran the oil industry in the Williston Basin, back in 1955, ever needed a hand with any of their plans or projects, they had a strong and...

Men; Soldiers; Military maneuvers; Military mobilizations; Military officers; Military personnel; Military uniforms; Tents;

The picture above was taken on Guadalcanal by Sgt. Walter Hapip. The three men pictured are (left to right) Sgt. Elmer James Cecil, Sgt. Robert Jeffrey and Sgt. Orville Wegley. At that time, Sgt. Cecil had not taken a bath for thirty days and the...

Spectators have gathered on Main Street in Tioga to watch the Tioga Oil Celebration Days parade. In this photograph, a convertible automobile is pulling a Beta Sigma Phi float, with women and girls on it dressed in white. A sign at the front of the...

"Jealousy of western North Dakota's oil wealth is nothing new. Ever since the beginning of oil production in the state, the have-not counties have been trying to 'stick their finger in the pie' as the old saying goes. There have been numerous...

"'Bountiful North Dakota,' the state slogan is symbolized in this air photo taken in November, 1958 wherein the chief sources of new wealth are illustrated... agriculture as showned by the harvested wheat field in the foreground, oil production as...

An oddity in the petroleum industry of North Dakota was this Madison producer pictured above which in 1958 was the only marine and offshore drilling operation for thousands of miles. Owned at that time by Investors Oil Inc., the well is...

Spectators outside a bakery and Bargain Center Furniture on Main Street Tioga are enjoying the Tioga Farm Festival parade. "This float entered in an early oil festival parade by the Tioga Ladies Petroleum Club is a replica of 'The Southern Belle.'...

A view of the Tioga Oil Celebration Days parade and several tankers from the petroleum industry. The tanker furthest to the left is a R.J. Allison Co. Several businesses are visible in this photograph, including the Victoria Grain Elevator.

A view of a Tioga Oil Celebration Days parade, with spectators lining both sides of the street to watch. A truck bears the words "Pleasant Valley," and features a small oil drilling rig, folding chairs, plants and crops. Four drum majorettes follow...

A truck with banners reading "Hey Kids Look" "Franks" and "Potato chips" tows decorations and several women who are trying to get some shade, through downtown Tioga in the Tioga Oil Celebration Days parade. Jack & Jill and other businesses are...

In the Tioga Oil Celebration Days parade a Tioga Ladies Petroleum club float passes spectators on Main Street. This float, towed by an automobile with a sign bearing the organization's name, features two shacks, a woman playing the guitar by a...

A view of the floats and spectators at the Tioga Oil Celebration Days parade. The Ben Franklin store, Woodwards, Tioga Locker, Severson's Jewelry, Sierck's Furniture, and many other businesses can be seen in this photograph.

Group portrait of some ladies of Williston's early days including Mary Newell, her friends, and many of her children. This image was taken at Mary Newell's country home near Williston. "Old Time Party - At the Newell county home, later the Moline...

In the Tioga Oil Celebration Days parade, a truck with a banner which reads "First Lutheran Church" passes spectators outside the Ben Franklin and Woodwards stores. On the back of a truck, a boy is holding a flag, while an American flag waves...